(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia declined, while Chinese stocks fluctuated ahead of a press briefing on Thursday likely to detail measures of support for the nation’s beleaguered property sector.
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MSCI’s Asia Pacific Index – a gauge for benchmarks in the region – fell for a third session, with equities in Sydney, Tokyo and Seoul all in the red. Shares in China swung between gains and losses with the mainland benchmark earlier falling as much as 1.3%, a more than 10% drop from it’s Oct. 8 high. S&P 500 futures were little changed while Treasuries were also steady in Asia.
Volatility in Chinese stocks has been high since late September, when a series of stimulus measures by the central bank unleashed a burst of optimism that’s now quickly cooling. Expectations are now growing to see if authorities are willing to deploy greater firepower to turn around the economy and markets.
A Bloomberg gauge of Chinese property shares gained, while some dollar bonds issued by Chinese real estate firms rose, as markets prepared for Thursday’s news conference by China’s housing minister. The focus will be on promoting what it called the steady and healthy development of the industry.
Any announcements “may only help property stocks for one or two days, but not the overall market,” said Kenny Wen, head of investment strategy at KGI Asia Ltd. “Only the property sector will be benefit and investors are still waiting for several trillion fiscal package.”
A broader weakness in the semiconductor sector was highlighted on Wednesday as Asian chip stocks including SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd declined. The moves partly reflected a slide in Dutch giant ASML Holding NV’s shares on Tuesday after it cut its 2025 outlook. In the US, Nvidia Corp. lost 4.7%, signaling a slowdown for some of the biggest bellwethers of the industry.
“The tech-led retreat triggered by the slump in chipmakers not only echoes earlier skepticism over the AI-driven rally but, more broadly, the slowdown in this economy-sensitive industry certainly does not bode well for the global economic outlook,” said Hebe Chen, an analyst at IG Markets.
In the US, The S&P 500 slipped to around 5,815 and the Nasdaq 100 lost 1.4%. The dollar steadied after climbing to its highest level in about two months after former President Donald Trump defended proposals to dramatically raise tariffs on foreign imports. Separately, Fed Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said he expects the US economy to slow this year but to remain robust, adding that the downward path for inflation could see some bumps.
Back in Asia, the yen traded at around 149 per dollar after Bank of Japan Board Member Seiji Adachi emphasized the need for taking a gradual approach to raising the benchmark interest rate. New Zealand’s dollar and sovereign bond yields fell after the annual inflation rate declined sharply in the third quarter, returning to the central bank’s target band for the first time in more than three years.
Elsewhere, three of Southeast Asia’s biggest economies will unveil monetary policy decisions later Wednesday. Indonesia and Thailand are expected to keep rates on hold, while a cut is seen in the Philippines.
Oil Gains
Oil climbed — after falling by more than 4% on Tuesday — as Israel said it would make its own decision on how to attack Iran, keeping open the possibility that energy infrastructure may be targeted.
Crude has had a roller-coaster ride this month, with prices buffeted by tensions in the Middle East, as well as China’s efforts to revive growth in the largest importer. Traders have also been weighing the market’s outlook into next year, with the International Energy Agency flagging prospects for a global glut.
“It looks like dealers simply have their machines tied to oil futures these days,” said Christoph Rieger, head of rates and credit research at Commerzbank AG. “Whether it makes sense to adjust your long-term inflation view on the back of this is a different question.”
In other commodities, iron ore futures were little changed just below $106 a ton in Singapore after swinging between gains and losses. Meanwhile, gold advanced.
Key events this week:
Morgan Stanley earnings, Wednesday
ECB rate decision, Thursday
US retail sales, jobless claims, industrial production, Thursday
Fed’s Austan Goolsbee speaks, Thursday
China GDP, Friday
US housing starts, Friday
Fed’s Christopher Waller, Neel Kashkari speak, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 12:36 p.m. Tokyo time
Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 2%
Japan’s Topix fell 1.3%
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.4%
The Shanghai Composite rose 0.4%
Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.5%
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
The euro was unchanged at $1.0893
The Japanese yen was little changed at 149.11 per dollar
The offshore yuan rose 0.1% to 7.1252 per dollar
The Australian dollar fell 0.1% to $0.6694
Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 1% to $67,141.41
Ether rose 1.7% to $2,616.73
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.03%
Japan’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.950%
Australia’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 4.21%
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.3% to $70.80 a barrel
Spot gold rose 0.1% to $2,666.03 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Kurt Schussler, Yuling Yang, Jake Lloyd-Smith and Zhu Lin.
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